Computer games often comprise a graphically rendered three dimensional (3D) space that represents a virtual world in which the players play the game. This virtual world is typically filled with objects, e.g., characters, rooms, vehicles, items, and environments that are used to create the scene for the game. For example, a game set in a modern-day city would have a virtual world populated with objects like, e.g., buildings, cars, people, etc. Similarly, a game set in medieval Europe might be populated with knights, serfs, castles, horses, etc. As the 3D spaces that these games inhabit have become larger and more complex, the task of filling them with a rich, varied, interesting, and detailed environment has become challenging, both computationally and in terms of the effort required to design and fill the worlds with a large variety of objects.
In game development, this problem of filling virtual worlds with objects typically spans across a number of domains. For example, artists are responsible for creating the in-game objects from people and their clothes to vehicles, buildings and interiors, and all the assorted other miscellaneous things that make up the world. Gameplay designers then must use these objects in the world to create some sort of desired gameplay. In other words, the artists do not create one final and complete static world. Instead, the gameplay designers might rearrange and reconfigure the objects in the world to tell a particular story or to create an environment that will be interesting for a certain sort of game. Graphics rendering specialists must further ensure these 3D objects can be efficiently rendered with as much detail as possible using available or targeted gaming hardware.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists for an improved system for building and rendering in-game objects in an effort to overcome the aforementioned obstacles and deficiencies of conventional video game systems.
It should be noted that the figures are not drawn to scale and that elements of similar structures or functions are generally represented by like reference numerals for illustrative purposes throughout the figures. It also should be noted that the figures are only intended to facilitate the description of the preferred embodiments. The figures do not illustrate every aspect of the described embodiments and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure.